One last post for tonight. We made 3 pizza doughs. A margerita, a proscuitto-mozzarella-blackolive and this delicious one with red pepper and goat cheese. Yum-mee. 2+ pizzas are in the fridge for leftovers this week.
Great weekend!
Yesterday we set out for the lake to raft up with Lori & Dave on Camelot. We put our repaired jib back on. And Julie met us at the slip. We were the only two boats on the lake, i think, given the continued forecast of rain.
We anchored up in Arky south last night, expecting some good downpours after midnight. Lori and Dave hosted us to a delicious spaghetti feast on their boat. Thanks guys!
We played iPod wars for a bit and turned in relatively early. The rain really didn’t start until about 8 AM. And it still hasn’t quit. No complaints here though. The lake is up a total of about 11 inches since Wednesday. Keep it comin!
We played rummy in the cabin for several hours and then headed back to the slip.
Now we’re back home and pizza dough is being whipped up as I type this.
Enjoy what’s left of the weekend!
I took this shot of the plumbago out back before the rain that’s in the forecast (yay!) gets here. It’s an amazing plant; can withstand pretty much any drought and heat. This one is sprawled over half of my flower bed. So pretty.
There’s another coldfront coming in from the north tonight. I can hear thunder already. I hope this one is a super-soaker. Today the marina was planning on moving our dock to the end of another dock, since the lake level continues to drop and it’s now too shallow where E-dock currently is.
C’mon rain!
The acorns are back.
Weighing down each red oak branch.
The squirrels rejoice.
Last year was a lean one for the furry critters that live off the acorns in our neighborhood. The red oak was just too stressed. This year the tree is absolutely loaded with them. I just wish the pecan tree out back would cooperate.
I’ve had an eerie experience this morning. Monte went to the marina last night for some repairs to the jib, and spent the night on the boat. So I’m up drinking coffee and watching the morning news by myself. The very same kind of morning I was having 11 years ago today — when I watched a plane fly into the World Trade Center.
At about a quarter to 8AM, central time, it all started. I recall the evolving emotions I felt …disbelief, anger, uncertainty and confusion throughout the rest of the day as events unfolded. I went to work that day, but everyone was glued to their web browser or TV monitors. And then came the prolonged feeling of what can only be described as grief, as I watched the aftermath of the attack play out on television over the following days and weeks. I did not experience personal loss of family or friends in the attack, but I believe all Americans were mourning the loss, together, of an attack directed at all of us.
Since then, life has moved on for me, bringing both joy and loss. But in reflecting on that day 11 years ago, it’s startling to realize how quickly the time has flown by. And, it’s embarrassing to note that I let too many of my days be filled with meaningless concerns and busy work.
So, on this day I pause to remember those that lost their lives, those that sacrificed their lives for others, the family and friends that experienced inconsolable loss, the feeling of national unity that today seems unattainable, and the responsibility we all must bear to live each day of our lives to the fullest.
We spent the night on the boat last night. A cold front came through the area early yesterday and the wind gusted all day out of the North, but fell quiet over night. The temperatures dropped into the 50’s overnight (!)
Today we went for an afternoon sail with Joe, Wally & Kurt joining us. The breezes were light. It was a gorgeous day, with temps in the 80’s. I think the air temperature was a little cooler than the water temp.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think these clouds look a bit wintery…thin and flat instead of puffy and tall. Fall is on the way!
We were treated to a JerrySpringer-esque shouting match / near brawl from one of the parties camping at the park on land overnight. After finally getting to sleep, I woke up at about 5 AM. The full moon was shining brightly, but I had a great view of the stars from the deck of the boat.
Orion is up in the sky this month well before sunrise. It is a very well known constellation, and easy to pick out in the sky. This is a shot I took of it from the boat. I know it’s dark, but you can make out the 3 stars that make up Orion’s Belt, and most of the other stars. Clockwise from the top are: Bellatrix, Rigel, Saiph, and the yellow-ish colored Betelgeuse.
I hope you had a great Labor Day! We sure did.
We headed out from the marina after lunch, and anchored for the day in Arky South, and decided to stay overnight. This afternoon Lori stopped by on Camelot and tied up with us for an hour or so. Laura, Ann and Doray were with her – out for a ladies’ sail. Marty & Sue also stopped by and left ’round sunset. The cove was packed with boats during the day, but as the evening approached, we ended up being the only boat in the cove. We had a magnificant view of the sunset, and later the (just past) full moon.
The shot above is off the stern, looking over the park towards the west after the sun had set. I just love the colors.
I took a walk down E-dock this morning after scrubbing Nirvana stem to stern. There are some big boats on this dock, and most seem to be used frequently and are well taken care of. There are one or two that haven’t been boarded in many, many years. The photo above is of one boat that has lichens growing all over the top of its deck and cockpit. Sad.
As I was walking along in my flip-flops looking at the boats, and not watching where I was walking, I kicked one of the dock cleats. OW! Luckily just a scrape. A few minutes later, CRACK! I did it again, and this time brought blood. I thought I had broken my toe. That brought an end to my dock walk. Live and learn: no flip-flops on dock walks.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around. Until the afternoon, when the beer can race took place. This week Wally came aboard Nirvana and gave us some lessons in racing a sloop. Kurt and Kevin won on Dancer. Marty & Sue came in 2nd this week. And Monte, Wally & I took third. That’s better than last week when we came in 4th! 😀
The shot below is of Marty & Sue on Caribbean Hug approaching the starting line.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
On this last day of August, the Friday before a long Labor Day weekend, we packed up and headed to the boat after work. We’re staying the night tonight in the slip, and plan to raft up tomorrow night.
This was the lovely sunset that we were treated to. The shot above is from the bow of Nirvana, in our slip. The shot below is of the light from the setting sun lighting up the clouds from the stern. You know what they say… “Red skies at night, sailors’ delight….”
True that.
“Retired” is a state of mind. Monte has been working every day out in the shop making sawdust and pretty furniture. This is his latest project, one of a pair of LP cabinets. Made out of beautiful walnut with a gorgeous custom finish. He designed and built them. Quite the craftsman!
The drawers have heavy duty full bottom-mounted slides. And he designed an angled, adjustable back-stop for each drawer.
Below is the “before” picture 🙂
I wonder what’s next?!
I am addicted to Amazon Prime. I use it for purchasing nearly everything other than groceries. And I’ve been placing so many orders lately, the UPS man is wearing out the front walkway. I guess it’s time I took a break, though.
The clutter (virtual and physical) in my life is reaching a new peak. We have, admittedly, been processing a spike in household paperwork / accounting that requires more of my attention, what with the monthly household bill paying, insurance paperwork for the Audi, buying the new boat, insuring the new boat, registering the boat, processing Monte’s retirement paperwork, converting 401Ks to IRAs, moving the new retiree to my insurance, etc etc etc. We somehow misplaced one of the new ATM cards for our accounts that arrived a few weeks ago. I also have this nagging feeling that I need to double check our estimated fed income tax payments. I’m about 2 months behind on niece & nephew birthday cards (!). Work-work is piling up too, and traveling a week or so every month is not helping either on the household-organizational front.
The Amazon “stuff” just went on top of that pile.
I have been trying to get the return authorizations processed for 2 boat-related items that I ordered from Amazon recently that I wanted to return. Today I realized that I returned the wrong item to Amazon, using one of Amazon’s return authorizations. And I have the Amazon item here in my office with the return authorization for a 3rd party vendor. The nice UPS man came by and picked up the first item before I realized the mistake.
*sigh*
Luckily the nice-man at 1-800-please-help-me-Amazon said he’d figure it out for me.
I hereby impose a 2 week moratorium on ordering anything from Amazon. And I resolve to reduce the huge pile of paperwork piled up on my home office desk on one of the days I hope to take off around labor day.
Sheesh.
P.S.
I realize there are people struggling with real problems out there. This is definitely not one of them. But it just turns out to be something to feed my blog for today. 🙂 Enjoy the rest of the week!
What a nice weekend! Saturday we (Julie, Monte and I) headed to the lake. We raced in the Beer Can for the first time on Nirvana. Let’s just say we have room for improvement 🙂 We came in 4th though!
Afterwards we anchored in Arky South for the night. Just us this time. Today we picked up the anchor around 11:30 and sailed to the yacht club and back. Julie took the helm for the first half of the trip. She’s a natural.
Back in the slip we floated and visited with Joe, Marty and Wally.
I can’t wait til the upcoming long Labor Day weekend!
After the day’s wrap-up meeting session, we headed to a restaurant closest to the hotel. It’s Polynesian fare tonight, folks. This is the first course. 🙂
Sheila365 